Getting Ready for Ski Season: Why Hip Mobility and Strength Matter

Skiing and snowboarding require your hips to move and control your body in different positions throughout the day.

Think about what happens when you carve through a turn. Your hips need to rotate and shift as you move from one side to the other, while your trunk and lower body work together to control your position.

If you have difficulty accessing the hip motion you need, other parts of your body may have to compensate.

That doesn’t mean limited hip mobility automatically causes pain or injury. However, understanding how your hips move can help you identify areas worth working on before the season begins.

For people looking for hip physical therapy in Bethesda or McLean, this is one example of why an individualized movement assessment can be helpful. Rather than assuming everyone needs the same stretches or exercises, a physical therapist can evaluate your mobility, strength, injury history, and activity goals to determine what makes sense for you.

Exercise 1: Hip Shifts for Mobility and Control

A hip-shifting drill using a yoga block is one way to explore how your hips move from side to side.

The goal is to practice moving into and out of each hip while maintaining control. Working on both sides can help you identify differences in how each position feels and how comfortably you can move through it.

You can add this drill to your warmup or movement preparation before a workout. Keep the movement controlled and work within a comfortable range rather than forcing yourself into a position.

The right range and variation will depend on your current mobility and any symptoms you experience.

Exercise 2: Copenhagen Variations for Inner-Thigh and Core Strength

Hip mobility is only part of preparing for the slopes. You also need strength and control to manage the forces that come with repeated turns.

Copenhagen plank variations challenge the inner-thigh muscles while also requiring the side abdominal muscles to help stabilize your trunk and pelvis.

There are several ways to perform this exercise, so you can choose a variation that matches your current strength and ability.

One important detail is keeping your hips elevated. Try to maintain your hips at least level with your feet instead of allowing your pelvis to sag toward the floor.

Start with a manageable variation and focus on maintaining good control. The goal is not to choose the hardest version right away. It is to build strength that you can gradually progress over time.

Your Lower Body Also Needs to Handle Impact

Skiing and snowboarding aren’t just about turning. Your legs also need to absorb force quickly and help you regain control as you move across uneven terrain.

Even if you don’t spend much time jumping, your body still has to respond to changes in the slope and handle repeated loading throughout the day.

That is why preparation should include more than stretching your hips.

Deceleration drills and two-foot or single-leg landing exercises can help you practice controlling your body as you absorb force. These drills can be progressed based on your experience, current capacity, and the demands of your sport.

As with any exercise, the starting point matters. If you’re returning from an injury or dealing with pain, it’s worth getting guidance on which movements and progressions are appropriate for you.

Don’t Wait Until Your First Day on the Slopes

It’s common to feel unusually sore or fatigued after the first few days of skiing or snowboarding, especially if you haven’t trained for those demands in a while.

It’s easy to assume that this is simply part of getting older. But sometimes, the bigger issue is that your body hasn’t had much recent exposure to the movements and physical demands of the sport.

Preparing ahead of time gives you an opportunity to work on the areas that matter before your trip. That may include hip mobility, inner-thigh and core strength, lower-body strength, deceleration, or impact control.

You don’t need an entirely separate training program to get started. Depending on your current routine, you may be able to incorporate a few targeted exercises into your warmup or accessory work.

The key is choosing exercises that fit your needs and progressing them appropriately.

How Hip Physical Therapy Can Help You Prepare for Winter Sports

Not everyone needs the same preparation program.

Your exercise history, previous injuries, current symptoms, and skiing or snowboarding experience all influence what your body may need. Someone with a history of hip pain may require a different approach from someone who wants to improve strength and movement control before their first ski trip.

At Cohen Health & Performance, our physical therapists work with active adults and athletes to understand their goals, assess how they move, and develop individualized plans around the activities they want to return to or continue enjoying.

If you’re searching for hip physical therapy in Bethesda or hip physical therapy in McLean, our team can help you understand which areas may need attention and how to prepare for your sport. Treatment and exercise recommendations are based on your individual assessment, not a one-size-fits-all list of exercises.

You don’t have to wait until pain or stiffness interferes with your plans to think about preparation. Starting early can give you more time to build the mobility, strength, and control your activities demand.

If you have a ski or snowboard trip coming up, now is a good time to start getting ready. Contact Cohen Health & Performance to learn how an individualized physical therapy or performance plan can help you prepare for the season.

Baseball Arm Care: What Every Baseball Player Should Know

Baseball players put a tremendous amount of stress on their bodies every time they throw.

The shoulder has to generate force.

The forearm and hand have to control the ball.

The muscles around the shoulder have to slow the arm down.

And the entire body has to coordinate those movements at high speeds.

That’s why baseball arm care should be more than a few light band exercises before practice.

At Cohen Health & Performance, we work with baseball athletes of all ages and skill levels. One of the biggest things we emphasize is that arm care should be built around the individual athlete, their throwing demands, and their current strength and capacity.

There isn’t one perfect arm care program for every baseball player.

Arm Care Is More Than Resistance Bands

When people hear “arm care,” they often think about bands.

External rotations.

Internal rotations.

A few sets before throwing.

Those exercises can have a place in a baseball player’s program, but they are only one piece of the puzzle.

A good arm care program should look more like a good strength program.

That means progressively strengthening the muscles that contribute to throwing, including the rotator cuff, scapular muscles, biceps, triceps, and forearm.

The goal is not simply to make these muscles feel tired.

The goal is to improve their ability to handle the forces associated with throwing.

That distinction matters because throwing places very different demands on the body than many traditional strength exercises.

Your Arm Needs to Be Strong Enough for Your Throwing Demands

One of the most important questions we can ask is:

Does the athlete have the strength and capacity to handle the forces they are creating when they throw?

An athlete may be capable of producing a lot of force, but that doesn’t automatically mean their tissues are prepared to tolerate it repeatedly.

This is especially important as athletes get stronger and start throwing harder.

If throwing output increases faster than the body’s ability to handle that output, the athlete may be creating a mismatch between performance and tissue capacity.

That’s why strength testing can be valuable.

Rather than guessing which areas need work, we can use objective testing to identify specific strengths and weaknesses and then build training around those findings.

The Back of the Shoulder Has an Important Job

The external rotators, including the muscles on the back of the shoulder, experience significant stress during throwing.

Every time a baseball is thrown, the arm has to slow down after rapidly accelerating.

The muscles responsible for that deceleration are working hard to control the arm.

This is where simply performing light external rotations may not be enough.

If an athlete is throwing at high speeds but only training those muscles with very light resistance, the training may not fully match the demands being placed on them.

We also look at the relationship between internal and external rotation strength.

Think about it like the gas and the brakes.

Internal rotation contributes to acceleration.

External rotation helps control and slow the arm down.

Both need to be strong enough to do their jobs.

Don’t Forget the Forearm

The forearm is another area that can easily be overlooked in baseball training.

Traditional exercises such as carries can help develop forearm strength, but they don’t necessarily replicate the demands placed on the hand and fingers during throwing.

Baseball players rely heavily on their grip and the smaller muscles in the fingers and hand when they throw.

That means forearm training may need to become more specific to the athlete and the demands of their position.

At CHP, we can use tools such as the FlexPro Grip system to test and train these areas. The goal is to understand whether an athlete’s forearm strength is appropriate for the forces they are producing when they throw.

Again, the focus is not simply doing more exercises.

It is choosing the right exercises based on what the athlete actually needs.

Baseball Arm Care Should Be Individualized

A throwing program that works well for one athlete may not be appropriate for another.

Age matters.

Training history matters.

Throwing volume matters.

Strength matters.

Previous injuries matter.

The position an athlete plays and the level at which they compete can also change the demands placed on their body.

That’s why copying a throwing or arm care program from the internet may not address what a particular athlete needs.

At CHP, we use testing and evaluation to identify areas that may need improvement and then build a plan around the athlete.

The goal is to give the athlete the capacity they need for their specific sport and level of competition.

Returning to Throwing Is More Than Following a Timeline

One of the biggest mistakes we can make after an injury is assuming that a certain number of weeks automatically means an athlete is ready to throw again.

Healing timelines matter.

But being cleared based on time alone doesn’t necessarily mean the body is prepared for the speed and intensity of throwing.

There can be a significant gap between traditional strengthening exercises and actually throwing a baseball.

That gap needs to be addressed.

As an athlete gets closer to returning to throwing, rehabilitation should gradually become more explosive and higher velocity. Instead of only performing slow, heavy strength exercises, we begin incorporating movements that better resemble the forces and speeds the athlete will experience when they return to their sport.

The goal is to check the boxes along the way.

When the athlete finally returns to throwing, it shouldn’t feel like a massive shock to the system.

Their body should be prepared for it.

What Are the Most Common Baseball Injuries?

Elbow and shoulder injuries are some of the most common concerns we see in baseball athletes.

The type of injury can change depending on the athlete’s age and stage of development.

Younger athletes may experience stress to developing bones, including conditions commonly referred to as Little League elbow or Little League shoulder.

As athletes mature, more stress can be placed on structures such as the UCL, forearm, and shoulder.

But baseball injuries aren’t limited to the arm.

Low back injuries are also common, particularly in middle school and high school athletes.

Baseball is a high-speed rotational sport. If an athlete doesn’t have adequate strength or mobility through the hips and thoracic spine, the low back may have to absorb more of the rotational stress.

This can contribute to injuries such as spondylolysis and stress reactions, which can require lengthy rehabilitation.

The body doesn’t throw with the arm alone.

The entire body contributes to the movement.

Throwing With Pain Isn’t Something to Ignore

Pain is one of the most important warning signs for baseball athletes and parents to pay attention to.

Some soreness after throwing can happen, especially when training demands change.

But persistent or recurring pain should not simply be accepted as part of baseball.

If an athlete consistently experiences pain while throwing or continues to have pain for more than a day or two afterward, it is worth having them evaluated.

Trying to push through pain without understanding what is causing it can allow a manageable issue to become a much bigger problem.

The earlier an athlete is evaluated, the more opportunities there are to address contributing factors before they become more significant.

Sports Physical Therapy for Baseball Players in McLean and Bethesda

Baseball players need more than a generic rehabilitation program.

They need a plan that considers the demands of throwing, their current strength, their injury history, their training volume, and where they want to go next.

At Cohen Health & Performance, our sports physical therapists work with baseball athletes to identify areas of weakness, improve strength and capacity, and prepare the body for the demands of the sport.

Whether you’re recovering from an elbow or shoulder injury, returning to throwing, or looking to improve your physical preparation before an injury occurs, our approach is built around the individual athlete.

If you’re looking for sports physical therapy in McLean or Bethesda, our team can help you understand what your body needs to handle the demands of baseball and build a plan around your goals.

The goal isn’t simply to get an athlete back on the field.

It’s to help them feel prepared to stay there.

How Training Should Change as You Get Older

Getting older does not mean giving up strength training, intense workouts, or athletic performance. But as the body changes with age, training and recovery may need to change with it.

For many active adults, the way they trained in their 20s may not be the same approach that works best in their 40s and beyond. Muscle recovery, connective tissue health, hormonal changes, and training history can all influence how the body responds to exercise.

Understanding these changes can help adults continue training hard while managing recovery and injury risk.

Your Body Does Not Recover the Same Way Forever

One of the biggest changes with age is how the body responds to training.

Muscle protein synthesis gradually becomes less responsive with age. This can make building and maintaining muscle more challenging, especially when training and nutrition are not properly matched to the body’s needs.

Recovery can also take longer. A workout that was easy to recover from in the past may require more time between sessions as the body gets older.

That does not mean training needs to become easier. It means training volume, frequency, exercise selection, and recovery should be considered more carefully.

Your Strength May Outpace Your Tissues

Adults in their 40s can still produce a significant amount of force. The challenge is that muscles are not the only tissues involved in training.

Tendons and ligaments can become less forgiving with age. Changes in collagen synthesis and tissue elasticity can affect how well these structures tolerate repeated loading.

This becomes especially important for adults who participate in running, jumping, cutting, or other high-force activities.

The goal is not to avoid these activities. Instead, the body needs to be prepared for the demands being placed on it.

Gradually building tissue capacity can help support continued training and athletic performance.

Maintaining Muscle Becomes More Important

Muscle mass naturally becomes more difficult to maintain with age. This gradual loss of muscle, often referred to as sarcopenia, makes strength training an important part of long-term health and performance.

For active adults, resistance training can help maintain muscle mass, strength, and physical capacity.

Hypertrophy-focused training may also become more valuable as people get older. Rather than only training for performance or specific activities, maintaining muscle should be viewed as an important part of staying active over the long term.

Recovery Is Part of Training

Training is only one part of the equation. Recovery determines how well the body can adapt to the stress of exercise.

Sleep, nutrition, training volume, and rest between sessions all play a role.

For some adults, reducing the total amount of work while maintaining an appropriate level of intensity can be a useful way to continue training without unnecessarily increasing fatigue.

There is also value in paying attention to how the body feels from one training session to the next. A program may need to be adjusted when recovery is limited, rather than forcing the same amount of work every time.

Protein and Nutrition Matter Too

Nutrition becomes increasingly important when the goal is to maintain or build muscle.

Adequate protein intake provides the building blocks needed for muscle repair and growth. Active adults may benefit from paying closer attention to their overall protein intake, particularly when training consistently.

Nutrition should also be considered alongside training demands, recovery, and individual goals rather than treated as a separate part of the process.

You Do Not Have to Stop Training Hard

Getting older does not automatically mean workouts need to become light or easy.

Adults can continue lifting heavy, training for performance, and participating in demanding sports. The difference is that training may need to become more intentional.

Instead of constantly adding more volume, it can be useful to focus on the quality of the work being performed and whether the body is recovering from it.

Training intensity, volume, exercise selection, and recovery can all be adjusted without taking away the challenge that makes training effective.

There Is No One Perfect Training Program

Age is only one factor that determines how someone should train.

Sex, training history, injury history, current fitness level, sport, goals, and recovery capacity can all influence the right approach.

Someone who has been strength training consistently for 20 years may need a different program than someone who begins resistance training at 40. An athlete returning from an injury may also have different needs than someone training purely for general fitness.

The goal is to build a program around the individual rather than assuming everyone needs to train the same way once they reach a certain age.

Sports Physical Therapy in Bethesda and McLean

Training as you get older does not have to mean doing less. It means understanding how the body is changing and adjusting training accordingly.

At Cohen Health and Performance, sports physical therapy and performance training are designed around the individual. Whether the goal is maintaining strength, returning to sport, managing an injury, or continuing to train at a high level, an individualized approach can help identify what the body needs to keep moving forward.

For adults looking to stay strong, active, and capable as they age, the right training plan can make a significant difference.

Learn more about sports physical therapy and performance training at Cohen Health and Performance in Bethesda and McLean.

CHP Spotlight Interview: Personalized Healthcare, Prevention, and Patient Advocacy with Dr. Nadia Sirdar

At Cohen Health & Performance, we often talk about the importance of looking at the whole person. Physical therapy and performance training are important, but they are only part of the bigger picture when it comes to long-term health.

In our latest CHP Spotlight Interview, Dr. Zac speaks with Dr. Nadia Sirdar, founder of Bethesda Modern Primary Care, to discuss personalized healthcare, preventive care, and the importance of having a connected healthcare team. Dr. Nadia brings more than 15 years of experience in internal medicine and a background in public health to her approach to patient care.

Meet Dr. Nadia Sirdar

Dr. Nadia Sirdar is the founder of Bethesda Modern Primary Care, a direct primary care practice focused on personalized healthcare, prevention, and stronger patient relationships.

Her practice offers patients direct access to their physician and a more individualized approach to managing their health. She also works with patients to help coordinate care and communicate with other healthcare providers when needed.

Why Preventive Healthcare Matters

One of the key topics we discussed was the importance of taking a more proactive approach to healthcare, especially during midlife.

Dr. Nadia explained that traditional healthcare can often become reactive, focusing on treating problems after they develop. Preventive care provides an opportunity to identify risks earlier and help patients make informed decisions about their long-term health.

For women in midlife, this can include paying attention to changes related to perimenopause and menopause, as well as broader areas of health such as:

Brain health
Bone health
Sexual health
Cardiometabolic health
Long-term disease prevention

The goal is not perfection or unnecessary optimization. It is about understanding your health and taking practical steps to support it.

The Value of Having a Healthcare “Quarterback”

One of the most interesting parts of our conversation was Dr. Nadia’s description of the physician as a healthcare “quarterback.”

Patients may work with multiple specialists, but without someone helping connect the different pieces, important concerns can sometimes be overlooked.

A primary care physician can help patients:

Coordinate care between specialists
Communicate important health information
Understand their treatment options
Identify broader health concerns
Make informed decisions about their care

Healthcare becomes more connected when providers work together and understand the bigger picture.

Why Communication Between Providers Matters

At CHP, we understand the value of collaboration. Physical therapists often work alongside physicians, coaches, and other healthcare professionals to help patients reach their goals.

Dr. Nadia shared examples of how communication with other providers can help address more than a single health concern. By looking beyond the immediate issue, healthcare professionals can better support the individual as a whole.

This same approach applies to sports physical therapy in Bethesda and McLean. Recovery and performance are influenced by more than the injury itself. A person’s goals, lifestyle, training demands, and overall health all play a role.

Personalized Care Starts With the Individual

There is no single approach that works for everyone. Whether someone is managing a health concern, recovering from an injury, or working to improve performance, care should reflect their specific needs and goals.

At Cohen Health & Performance, we believe individualized care and collaboration are important parts of helping people make progress. Understanding the person behind the injury or performance goal allows us to create a more thoughtful approach to rehabilitation and training.

To learn more about Dr. Nadia and Bethesda Modern Primary Care, visit bethesdadoctor.com.

Making Every Training Session Count: A Smarter Approach to Athlete Performance

There’s a good chance your athlete is doing a lot of training.

But are they training for what they actually need?

More exercises and more training do not always mean better performance. Sometimes, the biggest opportunity is understanding where an athlete is right now and what they actually need to improve.

At Cohen Health & Performance, we’re proud to be the exclusive physical therapy and performance training partners of Potomac Exiles Rugby Club. One of the ways we work with their athletes is through our Athlete Blueprint, a series of tests designed to give us a clearer picture of how an athlete moves, produces force, and performs.

Looking Beyond Strength

Strength is important, but it is only one piece of athletic performance.

Using our clinical expertise along with technology such as force decks and force frames, we can look at several different qualities that contribute to how an athlete performs.

We can assess:

Strength from side to side
Force production
Rate of force development
Jumping and landing performance
Explosiveness
Potential asymmetries
Areas that may need additional attention

This information can tell us more than simply whether an athlete is strong.

An athlete may have plenty of strength but struggle to produce force quickly. Another athlete may be highly explosive but lack the strength needed to support that explosiveness.

Those athletes may need very different training approaches.

Turning Data Into Better Training

The goal of the Athlete Blueprint isn’t simply to collect numbers.

It’s about understanding what those numbers mean and using them to make better decisions.

If we identify a meaningful difference from one side to the other, we can determine whether it needs to be addressed.

If an athlete has plenty of strength but needs to improve their rate of force development, we can incorporate more explosive work.

If an athlete has good explosiveness but needs additional strength, we may place more emphasis on strength development.

The goal is to build a more complete athlete while focusing on the areas that will have the greatest impact.

Making Limited Training Time Count

Athletes don’t have unlimited time to train.

Our rugby athletes have jobs, school, families, and other responsibilities outside of their sport. Their training time matters.

Instead of filling that time with exercises they may not need, testing can help us identify where their time is best spent.

This is where individualized performance training can make a difference.

The right training plan isn’t necessarily the one with the most exercises. It’s the one that addresses what the athlete actually needs.

Establishing a Baseline

Another benefit of the Athlete Blueprint is that it gives us a baseline.

We can test an athlete today, identify areas for improvement, and then reassess several months later.

Maybe their strength has improved.

Maybe they’ve become more explosive.

Maybe an asymmetry has improved.

Or maybe they’ve addressed the areas we initially identified and are ready for a new challenge.

The training plan should change as the athlete changes.

For higher-level athletes, testing may be repeated every few months. For other athletes, reassessing every six months may provide a useful look at progress.

The goal is to keep adjusting the plan as the athlete develops.

Building Better Athletes Through Individualized Training

You don’t have to be a professional athlete to benefit from this approach.

A high school athlete hoping to compete at the college level, a competitive club athlete, or an adult who wants to perform at a higher level can all benefit from understanding their strengths and areas for improvement.

At Cohen Health & Performance, our approach to sports physical therapy in Bethesda and sports physical therapy in McLean goes beyond simply addressing an injury. We want to understand the individual in front of us and help them build the strength, capacity, and confidence needed for their specific goals.

The Athlete Blueprint gives us another way to do that.

It’s not about finding everything that’s wrong with an athlete.

It’s about finding opportunities to help them become stronger, more explosive, more resilient, and more efficient.

Train With Purpose

The goal isn’t to train more.

It’s to train with purpose.

By understanding what an athlete actually needs, we can make better use of their training time and create a plan that evolves with them.

Whether you’re looking for sports physical therapy in Bethesda or sports physical therapy in McLean, our team can help you understand where you are now and build a plan around where you want to go.

Ready to take a more individualized approach to your training? Contact Cohen Health & Performance to learn more about our Athlete Blueprint and performance training.

Why You Shouldn’t Ignore a “Minor” Ankle Sprain

Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries athletes deal with, especially during the fall sports season.

A player rolls their ankle, feels some pain, maybe notices a little swelling, and is back on the field a few days later.

Because they can walk and the pain has improved, it can be tempting to assume the injury is no big deal.

But even a mild ankle sprain can change how your ankle functions.

And if you don’t properly restore strength, stability, and your ability to control the joint, that “minor” sprain can become the first step toward a much bigger problem.

What Actually Happens When You Sprain Your Ankle?

Most ankle sprains involve the ligaments on the outside of the ankle.

These ligaments help provide stability and give your nervous system information about where your ankle is in space. When they are injured, you can lose some of that stability and your ability to accurately sense the position of the joint.

This is one reason athletes can feel better before their ankle is truly ready for the demands of their sport.

Pain may decrease relatively quickly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve restored everything you need to sprint, jump, land, cut, and react.

That’s where proper rehabilitation becomes important.

The Problem With Simply Waiting for the Pain to Go Away

One of the biggest mistakes we see after an ankle sprain is using pain as the only measure of recovery.

If the ankle doesn’t hurt anymore, an athlete may assume they are ready to return to their normal training.

But there is more to returning to sport than being pain-free.

You also need to consider:

Ankle strength
Balance and proprioception
Joint stability
Ability to absorb and produce force
Landing mechanics
Single-leg control
Running and cutting ability
Confidence in the injured ankle
The specific demands of your sport

For example, walking around the house without pain is very different from sprinting down a soccer field, coming to a sudden stop, and changing direction on one leg.

Your ankle needs to be prepared for the environment you’re asking it to perform in.

Why Your Risk of Another Ankle Sprain Can Increase

After an ankle sprain, the injured ligaments may not provide the same level of mechanical stability they did before.

You may also experience changes in proprioception, which is your body’s ability to sense joint position and movement.

That matters because sports happen quickly.

When you’re reacting to an opponent, landing from a jump, or changing direction, you don’t have time to consciously think about where your ankle is.

Your body needs to recognize the position of the joint and respond appropriately.

If that system hasn’t been properly trained after an injury, the ankle may be more vulnerable when you return to competition.

This is one reason why athletes who have sprained their ankle before can be more likely to sprain it again.

Repeated Sprains Can Become a Bigger Problem

An athlete who repeatedly rolls the same ankle may eventually develop chronic ankle instability.

Instead of one isolated injury, they begin to experience a cycle of:

Sprain → incomplete recovery → decreased stability → another sprain

Over time, this can affect more than just the ankle.

If your ankle isn’t functioning properly, you may start changing how you move to avoid loading it.

You might shift your weight, alter your landing strategy, or compensate through the knee, hip, or other parts of the body.

The goal of rehabilitation isn’t simply to make the ankle feel better.

It’s to restore your ability to use the ankle effectively when your body is moving at higher speeds and dealing with unpredictable forces.

What Does Ankle Sprain Physical Therapy Look Like?

Effective ankle sprain physical therapy should be based on where you are in the recovery process and what you need to return to.

Early on, treatment may focus on reducing irritation and restoring comfortable movement.

As symptoms improve, the focus should shift toward rebuilding capacity.

That can include progressive strengthening, balance work, single-leg exercises, jumping, landing, running, and eventually sport-specific movements.

The progression matters.

An athlete shouldn’t go from walking without pain directly into full-speed cutting drills.

Instead, we want to gradually expose the ankle to the types of forces and movements it will experience during competition.

For a basketball player, that may mean progressing toward repeated jumping, landing, and quick changes of direction.

For a soccer player, it may involve sprinting, decelerating, cutting, and reacting to the movement of other players.

The exercises should reflect the demands of the person, not simply the diagnosis.

Sports Physical Therapy Should Prepare You for Your Sport

Returning to sport isn’t just about getting through a list of exercises.

It’s about making sure your body is prepared for the demands you’re going to face.

That’s especially important for athletes because competition is unpredictable.

You might land slightly off balance. You might have to react to another player. You might sprint, stop, and change direction multiple times in a short period.

Your rehabilitation should eventually challenge those same qualities.

This is one of the principles we emphasize with sports physical therapy at Cohen Health & Performance. We want athletes to build the strength, control, confidence, and capacity necessary to perform, not simply reach a point where everyday activities no longer hurt.

Don’t Let a Small Injury Turn Into a Recurring Problem

An ankle sprain may seem minor, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored.

If you’ve had an ankle sprain, the goal shouldn’t simply be to wait until the pain disappears.

The goal should be to restore the qualities that allow you to trust your ankle again.

That means rebuilding strength, balance, stability, and the ability to handle the demands of your sport.

At Cohen Health & Performance, our approach to sports physical therapy is individualized to the athlete, their injury, and their goals. Whether you’re dealing with your first ankle sprain or you’ve been dealing with repeated ankle injuries, the right rehabilitation plan can help you build back the capacity you need to stay active.

If you’re looking for ankle sprain physical therapy in Bethesda or McLean, our team can help you determine what your ankle needs to safely progress back to your sport and activities.

Don’t just get back to your sport. Build the capacity to stay there.